The 2008 Summer Olympics

Last night Spencer and I along with our boys gathered together on the couch to watch the Olympic Opening ceremony. I wasn't sure how much the boys would appreciate watching this event, but it did captivate their attention. I was completely impressed with the quality of performance that the Chinese people gave. They put on a fantastic show! You definitely have to give props to the Chinese, they are extremely precise in their movements and their costumes were beautiful. My only disappointment was the fact that they did not include any dragons into their performance.

My favorite part is watching the parade of the countries when they enter the stadium. 203 countries are represented in the Olympics in Beijing and I literally grabbed my world globe because a good share of them I have never heard of before. I love to see how each country presents themselves in their dress as well as their behavior. It's interesting how some countries are ultra conservative, they barely wave, and they are the definition of proper. Other countries, such as the United States, are fun loving, smiling, high-fiving, and yelling at the camera "Hi Mom!".
Another highlight to this years opening ceremony was when China, the last country to enter the stadium, walked in. Their flag bearer was Yao Ming and accompanying Yao was a nine year old orphan boy who survived the devastating earthquake in the Sichuan providence. The boy was being honored for saving the lives of two other children by pulling them from the rubble of the earthquake and therefore saving their lives. All this after getting himself free of the fallen rubble. It is a heartfelt story of heroism and the crowd in the stadium went wild as they paraded around the arena.

I look forward to watching several events this Olympics. The Track and Field is among the top. I also love to watch Gymnastics, Swimming, Diving, Soccer and Volleyball. Hopefully the U.S. can represent well this year and I can hear our National Anthem played over and over.